# bit of an idea this based on an idea in a short story by jules verne i think
# need to f flesh tings out and bit and fill the story line
# a tad
the sun was warm on his back as his hands worked the sanding tool. feeling it
with his other hand the surface was almost smooth enough. he straightened up
and feltthe strain in his arms from the day long labour. there was a knock at
the door and he looked up. it was unlikley that anybody would disturb him
in his workshop at this time. most people left him to his labours allowing him
to work in peace. he listened to sound outside the door attempting to work
out form the wound outside who it was would be there. his were utterly blind
and his other he had developed his other senses to an extroadinarly high
degree to compensate for his blindness. getting up he walked to the door,
knowing from the feel of the floor beneath his feet where he was and also from
the slight feel of the breeze comming through the door. as with many blind
people he had developed that extra sense that allowed him to get a sense of
who and what he was in contact with without needing to seem them. it wasnt
always entirely reliable but gave him a few clues about whoever or whatever
it was he was in contact with.he opened the door and sensed the prsence
waiting there. "what can i do for you ", he asked.there was silence and then
the voice answered him sounding perturbed. i apologise for not speaking
immediately but i see you are blind your eyes are white, i was a bit taken
aback. i came here having gotten lost on the journey from the city to the town.
i was travelling ther to undertake some business with the diamond merchant
there. however i lost the path through the foest and have been lost for
almost a day now and finally came across your small village where i was hoping
to get directions to the town. we can probably help the craftsman replied,
but we do not travel to the town. generlaly speaking we are not welcome there.
we are all blind here and the towns people do not generally welcome us there.
we are largely self sufficient we are mainly small holders and have
sufficient livestock to keep us fed and some have small farms and we make
enough food to keep us fed and since we live in the forest. we obviously have
enough food to build houses and burn for heat in the winter and for cooking.
we are only about 500 in number but we are free from the hostility of the
world that is yours not ours out here.we can do as we please. the traveller
considered this for a moment and said. i have no wish to take sides here
since i have no quarrel with you i was just trying to find my way back to the
path to the town. however it is getting towards evening now. would it be
posible to get lodging for the night. then if on eof you would be kind enough
to get me back to the path in the morning i an continue on my journey and
leave you untroubled. the craftsman considerd this for am moment and siad
you are morthan elcome to stay the night. i havesmall cottage just down the
path whre i live with my wife. we are just outside the main hamlet. taking up
his staff to guide him down the path he and the traveller commencd on the
short walk to his cottage. as they walked forward the crafstman feeling
surefootdly the path beneath his feet with a degree of confidence that left
the traveller believing that the man was not blind. however they came to
asmall gate on the path which was shut and had it not been for the fact that
he was feeling his way with his staff. the craftsman would have walked into
it. he commented gruffly that the blasted thing was supposed to be left open
and opned it roughly so that they could continue on there walk. as they
walked further on ttthe traveller asked how they manged if they were all
blind out here. the craftsman appeared puzzled by this. he said we have a
rural s society. we write ourown books using dots on paper if we need to
write we make our music and songs for entertainment. we have livestock a if
we need to eat we kill it for food or get eggs from hens. we have crafstmen
who can work wood and so we can build our own homes and we have machines for
working metal that allow us to make rough metal tools for working wood and
tilling the soil and so on. which is enough to cover our needs. we dotn see
that you lot he said amusedly have anything that we dont. the traveller
thought about this for a moment and said i am inclined to agree. we do have
more sophistication in terms of some of the things we have but yes you
probably have as much as we do for most of your needs. at this they arrived
at the craftsmans cottage and walked up the short path to where the craftsmans
wife was standing at the open door waiting for him. they entered the cottage
and the woman whose eyes were as white and sightless as her husbands inquired
about the sounds of the extra footsteps with her returngin husbandthe man
explained the situation and asked his woman to prepare enough food for both of
them and that the spare bed in the old side room would suffice more than well
enough for the night. walking round in the enclosed space the mans
sightlessness was more apparent to the traveller since he bumped enough into
furniture for it to be plain that he could not see what he was bumping into.
he said to the traveller to help himself to a seat and took a guitar out from
the side of another.a seat. he ran his fingers over the instruments strins
and tuned it. looking slightly amusedly at the traveller. he said i hope you
dont mind but i tend to amuse myself in the evenings by playing music on this
instrument. it tends to give you a bit of an inkling about who it is your
playing to he said and as he spoke he started to pick out harmony part on the
instrument and then started to embellish it by picking out a simple melody
line that fitted the harmony. the craftsman continued playing slowly weaving a
spell around the room that bound both him and the traveller in that communion
of minds and person that only music and sound can achive adn both stayed
caught in the music till the craftsmans wife appead carring drinks and she
then laid the table and putting food on it. we eat pretty much the same thing
as yourselves the craftsman said but i believe you will find there very few
bones in it, he remarked drily. they continued the meal in silence and
afterwards the craftsman played some more on his guitar. he asked if the
traveller played but the traveller replied that sadly he did not and so they
passed the rest of the evening listening to the craftsmans melodic and
harmonic ideas on his instrument. they adjuourned later that evening and all
slept soundlythat night. in the morning the craftsman took the traveller into
the woods and onto the main path. i cannot take you further than this he said.
i know this part of the woods but would never find my way back if i took you
further but i am fairly certain you can find your way back to the main town
down this track. the traveller thanked him for his hospitality and left the
craftsman and carried on to the village. the traveller found that the
craftsman directions had indeed been correct and soon came to the town. there
he met the diamond merchant and told him of his meeting with the strange
village of the blind he had come across there. the diamond merchant told him
tthis was known. the blind village was not something the rulers fo the city
liked. they refused to play taxes to the rulers and didnt buy there
merchandise but preferred to make there own. this want someting that the city
and town rules were enthusastic about since other shad commentd on it and were
saying that they dit see why they should have to pay taxes either.the rulers
of the city said that the blind peoples money was in fact theres since they
were livi on there land and using there resources to wrok the land. the woods
belonged to the townspeopel and the animals in the woods which the blind
people caught and eat were also the property of the rulers of the city.thus
they said the blind people were taking the money and there property and that
the land was theres and that the blind people had no right to use ther land to
live off. the traveller considered this and siad that it was common land and
they were self sufficient the diamond merchant however siad that the rulers
had decreed that this wasnt the case and that the blind people were in fact
using ther eland and taking there food which was not fair or right.it was some
months after this back in the village of the blind time had passed and the sun
had once more started to warm the valley whre the blind people lived. the
craftsman just after eating breakfast heard a knock at the door. he went to
the door and one of his neighbours sons was standing there breathing hard. he
said rapidly. that a messenger had arrived from the city and that the rulers
had passed an edict saying that the land being used to live off by the blind
people was the property of the rulers and that the animals in the forest were
the property of the citymorever all the animals used for livestock in the
blind peoples small holdings were bred from wild animlas that were the proprty
of the rulers. thus the city rulers were claiming the village as ther own and
that the blind peopel would now since they were homeless and unable to fend
for themselves be required to work in the slave pits of the ruling state
since the state was not going to pay for there right to survive. later on an
army arrived and the blind people were driven from there homes and those that
were caught were put in chains and taken to the slave pits to suffer for
the rest of there natural lives. some escaped into the woods and were able to
survive by killing wild animals in the wwoods or taking woudl be stolen from
the city and the town. which was basiclaly the end of all of that.

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